As so often this year, the 21-yesar-old was simply in a class of his own - leading from start to finish, helped partly by problems for his two nearest title rivals.
German GP winner
Dani Pedrosa was taken out at turn two, while
Valentino Rossi - who had pushed Stoner hard during qualifying - was forced to retire on lap five when his new Yamaha engine suddenly lost all power.
Rossi thus conceded a further 25 points to the Australian, and has now plummeted a near unstoppable 85 behind Stoner - with just 125 points still available. That means if Casey can score 15 points more than Rossi next time out in Portugal a first world title will be his - and Stoner only expects to get
even faster in the five remaining rounds.
"I'm still taking the championship race by race. It was unfortunate what happened to Valentino and to Dani today, but I was out in front doing my own thing, I had enough pressure myself," claimed Casey, who faced early pressure from countryman
Chris Vermeulen, before breaking free from the Suzuki rider at half distance. "It took a lot of concentration to not make any mistakes because it was really hot and hard work today. This was a very nice win for me.
"The second part of the season is when I usually get stronger, so I hope we can be stronger at the next races but we'll see what happens. The more I ride my Ducati the more comfortable I become and the faster I become," warned the #21.
Stoner's third win in a row also helped increase Ducati's advantage in the constructors' and teams' championship. Company CEO Gabriele Del Torchio admitted Ducati were now on the verge of something 'very important'.
